The First Day
by AngelGirl569
Summary: Jeremy is off to Hogwarts today...and Odd is here? Who else? Ulrich? Yumi? A strange girl with pink hair? A short one shot of Jeremy's most unusual day.


Jeremy stared at the wall with utter distaste. It defied every law of physics he knew, this concept of running through the wall. Maybe he should speak with the conductor, perhaps there was a less ludicrous way to teach Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

"Make a move, Einstein!" A voice from behind him called. Jeremy froze at the familiar voice, turning around with wide eyes.

"Odd?" He cried. "What are you doing here?"

The blond boy grinned. "Oh, just going to a school for witchcraft and wizardry."

"You too?" Jeremy cried.

Odd paused. "I was hoping you would take that as a joke...wait, did you get a letter too?" The boys each pulled an envelope out of their pockets, showing each other the seal on the front.

"This is insane," Jeremy said quietly. "Odd...you're a wizard?"

"You are too!" Odd said. "Hey, this is going to be great. We'll learn magic together, fly broomsticks, play with unicorns..."

Jeremy blinked. "Wait what? The orientation visit didn't say anything about unicorns! They don't exist!"

"No, they do," Odd said. "But the school doesn't have you work with them till you're older."

"How do you even know this?" Jeremy asked, flabbergasted at how calm Odd was.

Odd looked around nervously. "We should get inside - it's not safe to talk out here. Come on!" Odd took a breath before sprinting at the wall with his luggage cart, disappearing inside it smoothly. Jeremy stared for a moment, then walked up to the wall. He put a hand on the cool bricks, and it stayed there.

"Well, they did say to run at it," He reasoned, figuring this day couldn't get any crazier. Besides, maybe hitting a brick wall would knock him out of these hallucinations. Jeremy sprinted at the wall with his eyes closed, anticipating the shock of being thrown backwards from his forward velocity meeting the unyielding mass of the wall - but instead, he found himself safe and sound on the other side.

"Took you long enough!" Odd called. "Come on, my parents are over here." Jeremy followed his friend, still shaken up from learning that the laws of physics could be broken. Odd led him to a large group of people with an assortment of outlandish hair colors. "Everyone, this is Jeremy."

Jeremy waved awkwardly at the strange looking bunch. "Hello," he said.

Odd began gesturing to the different people. "This is my mom, my dad, my sister Adele, my sister Pauline, my sister Elizabeth, my sister Marie and my sister Louise." Each member of Odd's family was heavily tattooed and pierced with strangely dyed hair. Odd's mother, the tallest of the women, extended a hand to Jeremy.

"It's nice to meet you," she said, her hair turning from purple to a sunny yellow. "We've heard so much about you! You and Odd went to school together, yes?"

Jeremy nodded numbly, watching the hair settle on a soft golden tone. "I, uh, yes, we, I mean, uh..."

Odd patted his friend on the shoulder. "It's ok, you're not hallucinating. She's a metamorphmagus, we all are. See?" He pointed to his head as his hair turned from its usual stuck up blonde style to a curly black Afro.

His father laughed. "It's a side effect of being artists!" Jeremy nodded, he knew Odd's family were well known artists in Italy. "So, Jeremy, are you excited to go to Hogwarts?" Odd's father was a jovial fellow, and Jeremy allowed himself to relax.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I mean, I just learned about all this magic stuff a couple weeks ago when I accidentally brought one of my robot dogs to life." Everyone laughed, and Jeremy smiled.

Odd tapped his friend. "The train is leaving soon, we should go." Jeremy nodded and followed Odd to the train. Odd's sisters followed, pairing up with friends to find a compartment in the train. Once Odd and Jeremy had settled into an empty compartment, Odd opened his duffel bag to let Kiwi out.

"Odd," Jeremy said tiredly. "If Kadic didn't let you keep a dog, I doubt a magical boarding school will either."

Odd shook his head. "No, my family is a legacy. We already got permission for me to bring Kiwi with me."

"It's weird," Jeremy said. "Not going back to Kadic this year. I'm going to miss Ulrich, and I still miss Yumi. I don't get why she had to change schools, it was very sudden."

"Actually," Odd said slyly. "I don't think you'll be missing anyone."

Jeremy blinked. "Why wouldn't I? They're my friends!" All of a sudden, a pair of hands closed over Jeremy's eyes.

"Guess who!" A female voice called. The hands lifted, and Jeremy turned to see Yumi's smiling face.

"Yumi!" He cried, lunging to hug her tightly. "I haven't seen you in a year!"

She laughed. "Sorry, I would have visited on school breaks but my parents took me on a bunch of trips to tour the magical side of Japan."

Odd smiled at the reunion. "Sorry for not telling you Jeremy, but we have to be careful about Muggles. My sisters told me Yumi was at Hogwarts last year, but I was sworn to secrecy."

Yumi sat next to Jeremy and handed each of the boys a small gift. "When I heard you were both coming to Hogwarts I was so excited. I hope we're all in the same house!

"I thought Hogwarts was just one building," Jeremy said. "Is there a neighborhood nearby or something?"

Odd laughed. "Wow, they didn't tell you anything in orientation, did they?"

Jeremy shook his head. "Well, no. I managed to get my school supplies from Diagon Alley without too much trouble, but it was a rainy day, not many people were out and about."

"Your house is your dorm," Yumi explained. "When you get to school you'll be sorted into one of four houses - Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw. We play games against each other and compete to win the house cup at the end of year, which you get for winning games, getting good grades, and being helpful to teachers."

"What's the difference between houses?" Jeremy asked.

Yumi pulled a tie out of her bag. "See this? We all have different colors for each house. I'm in Gryffindor, so I have a red tie. Gryffindor is the place for people who are brave, daring and chivalrous."

"That's me!" Odd cried. "Everyone in my family is a Gryffindor, it's in our blood!"

"Anyway," Yumi continued. "Ravenclaw is blue, they value knowledge and wit. I wouldn't be surprised if you end up there. Hufflepuff is yellow, they like people who are loyal, patient, and work hard. Then there's Slytherin."

Odd hissed. "They're the bad guys,"

"Ok not really," Yumi said, "But a lot of them do end up being evil when they graduate. Their color is green, and they take kids who are cunning, ambitious, and resourceful. The sorting hat actually considered putting me there but decided Gryffindor was more my style."

Jeremy nodded slowly. "Ok, I think I'm following. The hat judges your traits and decides which house you're in, and you get a uniform based off of your house."

"Right," Yumi said. "We'll all change into our uniforms sometime during this train ride, you guys just won't have a crest or fancy tie to put on. When you get to school you can buy clothes in your house colors if you want, a lot of people like wearing school scarves for attending Quidditch matches."

Jeremy decided not to ask what Quidditch was - it sounded too athletic for his taste already.

Yumi was quiet. "So, the two of you are here...what about Ulrich?"

"I don't know," Jeremy said. "I haven't heard from him all summer."

"Same," Odd said glumly. "It sucks that we're leaving him all alone at Kadic with Sissi."

"I've tried dating other guys but it's just not the same," Yumi said.

"Woah," Odd said, holding his hands up. "Dating other guys? Ulrich has been holding out for you all year!"

Yumi shrugged helplessly. "I figured it was best to move on! Anyway, the guy just wasn't for me. His name is William, he's in my year. We're both Gryffindors. He was romantic and everything, but it turned out he was a real womanizer, I caught him flirting with other girls every week."

"That's not good," Jeremy said.

"We're still friends," Yumi explained. "Though it is annoying when he hits on me."

"I'll protect you!" Odd jumped on his chair, pretending to brandish a sword. "He shall not besmirch the name of Yumi Ishiyama!" The friends laughed, happy to be reunited.

"Well would you look at that!" An annoyingly high pitched voice cried.

Odd looked fearful. "Please tell me I imagined that..." He turned to see none other than Sissi Delmas standing at the door, already wearing her school uniform and already having adjusted the skirt to be too short for dress code.

"Yes, Odd, it's me," She said with an eye roll. "But look, I brought a present!" She leaned back to tug a person forward.

Yumi gasped. "Ulrich?!"

Jeremy was beginning to think that Kadic was an undercover magic school. First Odd, now Ulrich and Sissi? It was just too much of a coincidence for his tastes. Ulrich looked at his friends with equal shock, staring with his mouth dropped open. Finally, he managed to speak.

"Yumi?" He said. "You're a wizard?"

She nodded numbly. "Yeah. Halfblood. You?"

He sat, still looking shaky. "Turns out my mom is a witch...she hid it from my dad until I started showing signs of magic, I only found out a month ago. This is...wow."

She smiled. "It's good to see you, Ulrich."

He blushed. "You too."

Sissi glared at the blushing pair. "Ok, this love fest is ridiculous."

"How did you end up here?" Odd asked. "I never sensed magic on you."

She rolled her eyes. "Turns out the mother who left my dad and me when I was two is in fact a witch. But, she's rich as can be so I can't complain. Ulrich dear, how about we leave these losers behind and go sit with some more...sociably acceptable friends?"

Ulrich scoffed. "Yeah right. You go do that, I'll stay here. It'll smell better once you're gone." His friends all laughed as Sissi fumed, slamming the door shut behind her.

"So," Odd said. "Just to catch you up to speed good buddy, I'm pureblood and destined for Gryffindor just like everyone else in the family, Yumi is a Halfblood Gryffindor, and Jeremy is Muggleborn. And let's be honest, we all know where he'll end up."

Jeremy attempted to mouth out the word. "Ravenhook?"

"Ravenclaw," Yumi explained patiently.

Ulrich nodded. "Well I'll tell you this, dad wasn't happy at all about me being magical. He and my mom are getting a divorce as we speak. Luckily I'll end up living with her."

"That sucks," Odd said. "How did your parents react to all this, Jeremy?"

"Uh, they took it pretty well, all things considered." Jeremy fished a photograph out of his bag. "It was kind of embarrassing, they took a picture of me with Dumbledore, holding my acceptance letter, then had him take a picture of us."

Odd cracked up. "That's hilarious! What did he say?"

"Honestly he was pretty nice about the whole thing," Jeremy said thoughtfully. "He even said it was ok for them to mount the pictures on the mantle since he wore Muggle clothes that day to blend in."

"That's great," Ulrich said with a grin. "I just can't believe we're all going to Hogwarts together! This is insane!"

"Maybe Kadic attracts magical kids," Yumi said with a shrug.

Jeremy stood. "Yumi, where's the bathroom on the train?"

"Down the hall to the right," she said, smiling at Ulrich with a blush.

Jeremy nodded, then continued out. He carried his bag with him, figuring he might as well change in privacy. After squeezing by a few older students who laughed at his scrawny figure, Jeremy found the bathroom, which was way too big to fit onto a train, with multiple showers and toilet stalls inside. He shook his head, deciding not to question it. After changing into his robes, Jeremy couldn't help but smile at the familiar feel of a sweater, enjoying that he could retain a little bit of his old life through uniform. Upon exiting the bathroom, Jeremy couldn't help but notice the girl in the train car next to the bathrooms. She was alone, and appeared to have been crying. Her shock of pink hair was eye catching, but what Jeremy noticed most was the beauty in her young face as she played with a small toy elf.

Now, Jeremy was not an outgoing fellow. He never approached people he didn't know, and he never invaded anyone's privacy. Usually he just kept to himself and moved on with his life. But he couldn't help but feel like this girl needed help, and he was the right person to give it to her. He knocked on the door, startling her.

"Come in," the girl said, wiping at her eyes.

Jeremy slid the compartment door open. "Hi," he said nervously. "I'm Jeremy. A first year."

She nodded. "I'm Aelita, first year as well."

He looked around the compartment, noting that her only luggage was a small suitcases - most students had at least four bags with them. "Is anyone sitting with you?"

Aelita shook her head. "No."

Jeremy coughed. "Would you, uh, like to sit with my friends and I?"

"I don't want to be a bother," she said quietly.

He smiled encouragingly. "You wouldn't! I promise my friends are really nice."

She looked around the empty compartment, apparently deciding that it was time to stop being alone. "Ok." She held her bag in one hand, her toy in the other. Jeremy led the girl to his compartment in silence.

"Here we are," he said nervously, sliding the door open for her. Aelita walked inside and stared at the others.

Yumi smiled. "Hi, I'm Yumi." The boys followed her lead and introduced themselves.

"This is Aelita," Jeremy said. "She's a first year." Yumi slid over to make room for Aelita, who sat nervously.

"So," Odd said jovially. "Where are you from, Aelita? I'm from Italy, Ulrich is from Germany, Jeremy is French, and Yumi is Japanese but lives in France most of the time."

Aelita stared at her toy. "I don't know," she said quietly.

Ulrich frowned. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I don't know," she said again, beginning to cry. Jeremy looked at his friends wildly, not understanding what had just happened. Yumi pulled the girl into a hug, and soon Aelita was calm.

"I'm sorry," Aelita said, tucking a lock of pink hair behind her ear. "I woke up in St. Mungo's three weeks ago with no memory except for my name. They think someone put a really strong memory charm on me, though no one knows why."

"What about parents?" Yumi asked, keeping an arm around their new friend.

Aelita shook her head sadly. "No parents in the picture, it seems. They looked my name up in every directory they had and no one had any records of me."

"So how did you end up at Hogwarts?" Jeremy asked, holding Aelita's hand across the table comfortingly.

"I got an acceptance letter two weeks ago," Aelita said. "Dumbledore said I could continue medical treatment with the nurse at Hogwarts, and that they had me in their records as an orphan that an anonymous benefactor had guaranteed a spot for."

"That's so weird," Yumi said. "What help will the school nurse be for memory loss though?"

Aelita shrugged. "They said I'll be meeting with a therapist on the weekends. I have fainting spells frequently, and trouble sleeping, so the nurse is going to be helping me find solutions or medications for that."

"Makes my life seem easy," Ulrich said dryly. "My parents suck sometimes, but at least I have them."

Yumi nodded at Jeremy. "Jeremy, show her the pictures." Jeremy pulled the pictures of his parents and Dumbledore out of his bag and Aelita laughed.

"You look so embarrassed!" She laughed, pointing to his red face next to Dumbledore's white beard.

Jeremy blushed. "Dumbledore took that picture of my parents and me." She giggled more, and the friends relaxed. When the lunch trolley came around, they all ordered sandwiches, cookies and lemonade, spreading their napkins out to form a faux picnic on the table between them.

"This is Mr. Puck," Aelita said halfway through lunch. "The doctors said I was found on the street holding him."

"How do you know his name?" Jeremy asked.

Aelita lifted the elf's leg to show Jeremy the bottom of Mr. Puck's shoe. "It's written on there. I like keeping him around, though it's probably pretty silly."

"It's not silly," Odd said in a serious tone. "My sisters all brought stuffed animals from home their first years at Hogwarts. They said it helps to have something to hug at night." Kiwi barked next to his master, apparently having just woken from his nap. Odd picked the dog up and placed him on the table, pulling a dog treat from his bag.

"This is Kiwi," Odd explained. "You're really only supposed to have an owl, toad, or cat, but they made an exception for me."

Yumi leaned in to speak to the others while Odd focused on his dog. "His last name is engraved on the side of the arts corridor...the Dellarobbia family is a big deal at Hogwarts, they've been attending for centuries."

"I can hear you, you know." Odd smiled cheerfully. "My family does have money, but we mainly use it for charity. We donate to schools, hospitals, all that good stuff. Though my grandparents did spend twenty years fighting for Hogwarts to have more arts programs. It paid off!"

Yumi nodded. "It's nice to learn stuff like painting and theater alongside magical studies...painting is hard but it's really relaxing after a long day." A bell rang, and they all looked to Yumi for direction. "We'll be there in fifteen minutes," she explained. "We should probably get changed now." Yumi led Aelita to the bathroom to get changed while

Odd and Ulrich got dressed in the compartment, Jeremy having closed the privacy curtain so no one would have to see the boys' boxers. Once they reached Hogwarts, the group rejoined to walk down the path together.

A large bearded man stood by the lake yelling, "First years over here, first years over here!"

Yumi pointed to the man. "That's Hagrid, he's the groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher. He's really nice."

"We're taking boats across the lake," Odd explained to Jeremy. "It's tradition for the first years to do it. All the older students just take the carriages."

Ulrich shook his head. "I swear, magic is so weird. I mean, look! The carriages are being moved on their own, no horses or engines or anything!"

Aelita furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about? There are horses right there!" She pointed at the air in front of the carriage, and the friends all raised their eyebrows.

"I don't see anything," Jeremy confessed.

"But there's something right there," Aelita said, getting frustrated. "A big horse with wings!"

Having lost track of how many times he had done this today, Jeremy decided not to question things. This girl seemed nice, but was obviously a bit touched in the head.

"Come on," He said, taking her hand. "There won't be any boats left if we don't hurry!"

The friends jogged to the boats, and waved to Yumi after settling in to a boat. Aelita clutched Mr. Puck nervously.

"What if they take Mr. Puck away from me?" She asked fearfully.

Odd shook his head. "They won't. But maybe put him in your pocket for now, it's going to be pretty hectic for the next couple hours."

Aelita nodded and held Mr. Puck up to her face. "I'll see you soon, ok? I'll be right here if you get scared of the dark." She hugged the toy to her chest before putting him in the pocket of her robe, buttoning it shut with care. The boys watched this exchange in silence.

Odd did his best to break the awkwardness. "Ulrich, which house do you think you'll be put in?"

"I don't know," Ulrich said. "My mom was in Ravenclaw apparently, but I'm not big on books."

"You should be in Gryffindor, with me!" Odd slung an arm around his friend. "It would be great!"

Ulrich laughed. "That would be good, though we all know Jeremy will be with the birds."

"Probably," Jeremy admitted. "That's not a bad thing, though. What about you Aelita, where will you end up?"

"I don't know," she said. "They all sound like nice places, though I'm not sure I'd enjoy living in the dungeons where the Slytherins are. Sounds too creepy for my taste. The nurses at St. Mungo's got me a bunch of books about Hogwarts to read so I'd be prepared. The castle really is a fascinating place, you know."

Odd grinned. "The staircases move, you know."

She paled. "I really hope I don't have a fear of heights then."

The boats pulled in to shore, and the boys all helped Aelita get out. She had already proved to be weak, needing help to get her suitcase down when they were in the train. As they entered the castle, the first years couldn't help but marvel at the statues and lights inside.

Odd's eyes shined with wonder. "You know, you hear about a place over and over again for years...but you really don't know anything till you've been there." Ulrich put a hand on his friend's shoulder, giving him an encouraging smile.

"First years, this way! No lollygagging, pay attention!" A tall woman with grey hair pulled back much too tightly led them through the halls, finally stopping in front of a set of double doors that were as wide as a small townhouse.

"That's Professor McGonogall," Odd whispered to his friends. "My sisters told me she's scary but nice." His friends nodded absentmindedly, still distracted by the splendor of the castle.

"We will line up alphabetically," The professor declared. "No moving to be next to your friends, no shouting out. You are about to be sorted. When your name is called, you will move up onto the stage and be sorted." She turned on her heel and snapped her fingers. The doors flew open grandly. Jeremy realized with a start that he was very close to the front of the line, and that he could see everything inside.

The name "Great Hall" did not do it justice. Long tables of polished wood filled the room, with candles floating in the air like stars. At the back of the room, teachers sat at their own table, which sat on a stage not unlike the one Jeremy would be on soon. Dumbledore winked at Jeremy, who smiled at the familiar face. He could see Odd's sisters sitting at one of the tables, and assumed that was Gryffindor. They nodded at their brother, who began waving wildly.

"Hi, sis!" He yelled obnoxiously. "Hi Adele! Hi Pauline! Hi Elizabeth! Hi Marie! Hi Louise!"  
Professor McGonogall turned back to glare at Odd with a murderous expression. He smiled innocently at the woman.

"I was just saying hello to my sisters," Odd said sweetly. "They're in your house, professor. I just hope I'm lucky enough to land there too."

Professor McGonogall took a deep, shaky breath before walking onstage, clutching a scroll of paper in her hands. She coughed, and the room silenced. "Lila Adams," she called out. A petite girl with braided hair scurried onstage, sat in the chair, and closed her eyes tightly as a worn leather hat was placed on her hat. All was silent. Then, the hat opened his mouth.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" It declared, and the table wearing yellow ties roared victoriously as the other tables clapped politely.

Jeremy decided not to question why a hat could talk.

He was the fourth person to be put on stage. Upon sitting, Jeremy began wondering about this process. Did the hat scan your memories? Your brain waves? Or was it actually all decided based on transcripts and parents' reports?

"You like to question things, huh?" A voice said.

Jeremy's eyes flew open. Had that voice been in his brain?

"Sure," The voice said. "Whatever keeps you sane."

Jeremy reflected on how insane his day had been already.

"You're smart," The voice drawled. "Anyone can see that. You like making things, taking things apart, figuring out how things work. You ask questions, you make plans. You read academic textbooks for fun so that you'll understand a little bit more how the world works. And you worry that you'll have to give all that up for magic."

The voice had to be the hat. Perhaps this was a test?

"No test," The voice said. "I just figured we could chat. This is all happening over a matter of milliseconds after all."

The hat knew a microscopic measure of time?

"Look kid, you'll do fine. And you can still study science while here - try herbology, Muggleborn science geeks love that class."

Their conversation was interrupted by a physical voice screaming, "RAVENCLAW!" To the Great Hall, and the hat was lifted up off his head. Jeremy blinked, staring at the sea of students before him. A table with kids wearing blue gestured for him to come sit down, and soon Jeremy found himself surrounded by a family of kids wearing blue ties with books open next to their dinner plates. He couldn't help but smile as older kids around him explained that Ravenclaw was statistically the best house, and that he better like riddles because he would be hearing a lot of them over the next seven years.

Jeremy looked up to see that the line had kept moving while he was distracted, and that it was now Odd's turn. The hat had barely touched his head before screaming, "GRYFFINDOR!" Odd's sisters screamed, jumping on the Gryffindor table with excitement. Jeremy laughed as their hair changed colors rapidly, and noticed that Odd's hair turned a prideful red streaked with gold as he sat with his new family.

Sissi was right after. She sat primly in the chair, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder. The hat stayed on her head for less than a minute before yelling, "SLYTHERIN!" Sissi smiled and walked to the table at the other side of the hall, who gave her high fives and cocky grins that matched her own.

After twenty minutes or so, McGonogall called, "Aelita Saints!"

A much older Ravenclaw leaned in to whisper to Jeremy, "That's the last name they give to people from St. Mungo's. She's in your year, right?"

Jeremy nodded. "She's nice," he said absentmindedly, watching Aelita shakily climb up onto the stage, her hand balled into a fist in her pocket - probably clutching Mr. Puck for dear life, Jeremy figured. The hat sat on her head for just a minute before declaring,

"RAVENCLAW!" Which caused Jeremy to stand up and cheer with the rest of his classmates. Aelita looked shaky from nerves, and Jeremy jogged over to help her into a seat next to him.

"I'm with you," she said to him with a smile.

He grinned back at her. "And I'm with you."

The hat finally got to Ulrich. He sat nervously, staring at Yumi before the hat dropped over his eyes. A minute passed. Then three minutes passed. Jeremy could see Ulrich's hands shaking, and whispers began passing around the hall. Finally, the hat declared, "SLYTHERIN!" And Ulrich walked to the table at the end with a rueful smile, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Sissi squealed and lunged for a hug, which he awkwardly accepted. Ulrich turned to look at Yumi, who stared at him with confusion. He smiled awkwardly, and actually made a heart symbol with his fingers. She blushed madly, and turned away. Ulrich grinned and turned to watch the rest of the procession.

Jeremy noticed the tall boy sitting next to Yumi glaring in Ulrich's direction. "That must be William," Jeremy muttered to himself. He was handsome, with messy black hair and a loosely hanging tie, but Jeremy could see him flashing grins at multiple girls.

The feast began, and Aelita discovered she adored treacle tart. She explained to Jeremy that as far as she could remember, she had only had the food at St. Mungo's, so this was all new to her. She ate roast beef and mashed potatoes, and smiled gleefully at the taste of chocolate pies. A girl by the name of Luna smiled kindly at Aelita, and agreed that Mr. Puck was very cute. Jeremy looked around at his new family, and decided not to question anything right now except for what was for dessert. He looked at Odd, who waved excitedly. He turned to see Ulrich, who appeared to have made some friends, but paused to grin at Jeremy. Yumi smiled at them as well, the briefly, the four friends felt their bond. Maybe they weren't in the same house, but at least they were back together again.


End file.
